1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of interactive and secure dissemination of information. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention involve a system and method of associating message data with a media element, such as an advertisement, communicating the message data and the media element to a designated recipient, and presenting the message data to the recipient only after the media element has been presented to the recipient.
2. Description of Prior Art
Providing secure transfers of encoded data over the Internet and other communications networks has become increasingly important. One method of securing data transfers involves encrypting the transfer data using either symmetric (private key/private key) or asymmetric (public key/private key) architectures. While data encryption can be an effective method of securing data communicated via the Internet, prior art encryption systems suffer from various problems and limitations.
Symmetric encryption uses a single, unique encryption key to encrypt and decrypt each secure data package. However, symmetric encryption requires the sender to communicate the encryption key to the recipient electronically, which can compromise the security of the transaction, or by a non-electronic method, which is too cumbersome for practical use.
Asymmetric encryption, in contrast, requires the use of both a public key and a private key, wherein multiple secure data packages are encrypted using the same public key. This architecture can compromise the security of encrypted data because if an unintended user discovers the private key used to decrypt an encrypted data package, the user will also be able to decrypt all of the data packages encrypted using the public key, which may be a large number of data packages, including previously-sent data packages as well as data packages created in the future.
Furthermore, systems that employ robust asymmetric or symmetric encryption are often difficult for end user's to learn or require users to dedicate a substantial amount of time and effort to encrypting and decrypting each message, resulting in systems that are inefficient for practical use. Such systems also require users to commit to a single, particular mode of data communication or even to a particular software application, whether online or offline, synchronous or asynchronous, web-based or client-based.
Advertising via electronic communication mediums, such as the Internet and wireless telephone networks, has become increasingly important as these communication mediums have grown in popularity and use. Unfortunately, some advertising practices have diminished the effectiveness of advertising over these mediums. Mass mailings of advertisements via electronic mail (“email”), sometimes referred to as junk email or “SPAM,” for example, have been used so extensively that many people ignore the advertisements. Consequently, companies who may otherwise benefit from using email advertisements have sought other forms of advertising.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved system of secure data transfer and information dissemination that does not suffer from the problems and limitations of the prior art.